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Had Miramax Dumped Om Puri?

Arthur J Pais

With glowing reviews greeting Om Puri's performance as an anguished and confused taxi driver in My Son the Fanatic, it looked certain about three months ago that Miramax Pictures will make a concerted effort to boost his chances for Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

A reviewer for the widely circulated New York daily, Newsday went on to suggest that Puri's performance may not be equalled by any other actor in 1999.

But My Son the Fanatic, set in a bleak English city, was a box-office disappointment in North America, earning about $ 300,000 -- a far smaller gross than the earnings of such films as Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (about $ 3 million) that were also set in England.

Given the ethnic subject matter and lack of marquee names, My Son the Fanatic, was not expected to do great business but a $ 2 million art house gross was certainly expected. The film stiffed in the opening week in New York and never recovered as it limped to half a dozen cities.

Now, when special screenings are being held in New York and Los Angeles for members of nearly a dozen trade bodies who will soon announce nominations in numerous categories, there is no sign of any screening for My Son the Fanatic.

Miramax is holding special screenings for nearly a dozen films but My Son the Fanatic is missing from the list. And there are no For Your Consideration ads in the trade publications, Variety and Hollywood Reporter as yet.

"This happens in Hollywood all the time," says Ric Ornellas, former culture editor of Washington Square News.

"Hollywood gets excited about a film but when the box-office disappoints, there is hardly an interest to promote the movie for the awards."

Special screenings, trade newspaper ads, and mailing of videocassettes of the film to the voters of trade bodies cost to the studio and distributors anything from $ 50,000 to $ 1 million per film.

While the nomination chances for My Son the Fanatic faded fast, the unexpected global success of The Sixth Sense ($ 400 million worldwide by the end of November and at least $ 200 million to come, according to box-office pundits) has convinced Walt Disney to push it for nominations.

"The Sixth Sense" is the third film directed by Manoj Night Shyamalan. The first two, Praying With Anger and Wide Awake grossed about $ 2 million worldwide.

The movie received mixed reviews, but Disney is expected to take ads in trade publications, asking for nominations in major categories including best picture, best director, best script -- and a slew of acting categories.

With about $ 2 million grossed in America and a cumulative $ 269 million at the American box-office, The Sixth Sense is on its last legs. But with Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, it could be re-released. Abroad, it is yet to open in several key territories, including Spain, Germany and France.

Nominations will boost its box-office in Europe and elsewhere, too.

Deepa Mehta's Fire, which is India's nomination for the Oscar in the foreign film category, has not yet featured in ads in trade publications.

Meanwhile, producer and director Ismail Merchant has started showing his Cotton Mary to trade and critics' groups in New York and Los Angeles. The movie, to be distributed by Universal Pictures, is the third feature film Merchant has directed.

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